1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a matable connector assembly having a quick connect/disconnect character, and more specifically, in one embodiment thereof, to a dispensing apparatus comprising a connector assembly of such type.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the art of dispensing flowable media, various types of quick connect/disconnect fittings are utilized for connecting cables, lines, hoses, and the like to supply vessels containing the source volume of flowable media for the dispensing operation, and/or to dispensing devices, such as nozzles, injector heads, and other discharge means.
In such applications, rapid coupling and uncoupling of matable structures, with a minimum of manual effort and dexterity, is desired, particularly in high volume mass production operations where rapid change-out of coupled components is or may be required.
One such application involves dispensers for the pressurized delivery of flowable media such as sealants and adhesives. One class of sealants and adhesives in current widespread use is anaerobics, which reactively cure in the substantial absence of oxygen to yield a cured sealant or adhesive mass with superior strength and adhesion performance properties. These sealants and adhesives, however, can experience localized anoxic conditions in the flow passages, nozzles and dispensing heads by which they are selectively discharged, which cause them to cure and harden in the interior passages of the dispensing structure. Such "in situ" formation of cured material is of progressionary character, and ultimately may necessitate the change-out of the at least partially occluded dispensing structure and replacement thereof with a new dispensing structure.
A modular dispenser apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,669 issued Jun. 5, 1990 to E. F. Dickau et al. for the dispensing of fluid media, in which an actuating unit and a dispensing unit are joined by a locking mechanism. A housing of the dispensing unit contains a ball-type valve mechanism, and defines a reservoir for containing the pressurized product to be dispensed. A diaphragm element is used in place of dynamic or shaft seals, and is of a non-sliding character to minimize the production of frictional heat which may facilitate the in-situ curing of heat-curable adhesives or sealants, and thereby render the dispensing unit deficient or even useless for its intended use. The diaphragm element also avoids the problem common to use of dynamic or shaft seals, of anaerobic compositions and cyanoacrylates being susceptible to curing due to surface ions and/or oxygen-deficient conditions which frequently exist in dispenser systems containing such seals. In the Dickau et al. apparatus, an O-ring-equipped end member of the dispensing unit is slidably received in a distal counterbore of the actuating unit, for coupling via an arrangement including circumferentially spaced set screws engaging an annular groove, and a male T-connector engaging a female slot. Subsequent rotation of the dispensing unit orients the T-connector, to permit coaction of the dispensing and actuating units and prevent their disengagement.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,329,198 issued to M. Hattan et al. describes an end fitting for a flexible hose, comprising an exteriorly threaded first fitting member having a hub carrying a locking screw groove, and a second interiorly threaded sleeve fitting member with a (reduced diameter) distal portion which is tapped to accommodate a screw element threaded therethrough and engaging the locking screw groove. The first and second fitting members are coaxially engageable with one another, to compressively secure an end portion of the hose therebetween.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,781,040 to Lasko et al. discloses a pipe joint seal for coupling aligned and adjacent pipe end portions, comprising an annular fitting member which is interiorly threaded at one end thereof to received a threaded pipe end section, and which features a plurality of radially aligned threaded holes at its other end in which set screws are disposed so that the screws engage the external abutment shoulders of another pipe. An annular resilient sealing ring is provided in the bore of the fitting, with an external annular flange engageable with the end of the second pipe section. The fitting has an annular internal shoulder engaged by the flange of the sealing ring, and the sealing ring has a cylindrical body portion extending axially on both sides of the flange and engageable with the bores of the fitting and the second pipe section. By this arrangement, internal fluid pressures on the sealing ring causes radial expansion of the sealing ring so that it engages the bores.
In general, there is widespread industrial use of fluid dispensers in time-critical manufacturing operations. In these applications, when either the actuator or dispenser portion of the dispenser becomes inoperable, it is necessary to locate and use the correct tool to disconnect one of such portions from the other, or else to replace the entire dispensing assembly.
Further, if the dispensing structure is coupled to a hose which in turn is coupled to a supply vessel, and it is necessary to switch the hose/dispensing structure subassembly to a new supply vessel after the original vessel is depleted of feed material, the hose bearing the dispensing structure must be disconnected from the original supply vessel and then connected to the new supply vessel, and tools typically are required for such change-out. This change-out of supply vessels correspondingly involves significant down-time in the manufacturing operation, to accommodate the supply vessel replacement.
Accordingly, it would be a significant advance in the art to provide a connection structure which is applicable to dispenser apparatus comprising actuator and dispenser portions, permitting such portions to be quickly connected to and disconnected from one another, without the use of any tools whatsoever.
It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide such a connection structure of quick connect/disconnect character, requiring no tools to effect connection or disconnection.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dispensing apparatus incorporating such connection structure.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully apparent from the ensuing disclosure and appended claims.